Serendipitous Sojourns

Laughter and conversation echoed softly from the high, cracked ceiling of the foyer at 555 Edgecombe Avenue. I rang the buzzer for apartment 3F and took in the neighborhood around me. Nestled between Manhattan’s Harlem and Washington Heights neighborhoods, Sugar Hill has been home to illustrious jazz musicians and artists, yet remains largely unknown to tourists and locals alike.

The entryway doors clicked open, beckoning me inside this historic landmark once home to Count Basie and Paul Robeson. I followed the crowd’s murmur up the vast stairwell toward the hidden gem in 3F even harder to discover than Sugar Hill itself: Marjorie Eliot, who would be playing parlor jazz in her own apartment in a matter of minutes.

Inside, apartment 3F was lively, warm and intimate - packed full with 35 eclectic guests, scattered along the rows of fold-up chairs. The walls were decorated with a hundred cards, photographs and newspaper clippings.

Then I spotted her. Marjorie was a petite, senior woman who had more energy than all the guests combined. She wore a whimsical brooch on her sleeveless banana-colored dress and had pulled back her Afro with regal elegance. Marjorie was intensely motivated to give every guest a seat, a glass of lemonade, a cookie, and a magical night inside her own version of Carnegie Hall.

Eventually she sat down at the bench of her baby grand piano and started to play. Her animated arms and hands danced over the keys with heart and spunk. A saxophonist and other musicians accompanied her, yet she alone held everyone’s attention for two hours. She closed with a bewitching version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as a tribute to Michael Jackson, who had recently passed away.

As Marjorie played that evening, it was impossible not to be moved by the experience of art and community she’d created. Years later, I still reminisce about it.

That night I learned that some of the most profound traveling experiences may never be on my bucket list. Welcoming serendipitous discoveries bring experiences I cannot conceive of alone, or plan from a book. Thanks to an open mind and a tip from a docent at the mansion next door, I am able to have this cherished memory.

Marjorie’s put on more than a thousand performances in her lifetime and has transformed her home and passions into something bigger than herself. She continues to put on free jazz concerts every Sunday afternoon at 555 Edgecombe Ave. #3F.